The only way for Aaron Rodgers to be completely happy about his own and his team’s performance is if the Green Bay Packers go all the way to the Super Bowl and win it, so as he sets passing records and puts the rest of his teammates on the right track, don’t expect him to gloat about it.
Rodgers completed 34 of 42 passes for 480 yards and four touchdowns in what might be his best game ever as the Green Bay Packers had no problem keeping the Washington Redskins at 0 wins, coping with a Robert Griffin III who is not quite himself, and unable to catch up with an offense that had its way whenever they wanted to.
The Packers finished the game with 580 total yards in their 38-20 win, getting surprising run support from James Starks after Eddie Lacy left the game with a concussion. Starks ran for 132 yards on 20 carries, with the Packers not really used to getting this kind of contribution from the ground game. It was the first time in NFL history that any team had a 450-yard passer and a 125-yard rusher in the same game.
However, the story was Rodgers, making James Jones, Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson and Jermichael Finley look like the best receivers in the world. Jones caught 11 passes for 178 yards, while Nelson caught two touchdown passes, followed by Cobb and Finley with one each. It was a career high in catches for Jones. Things really worked for the Packers after the catch, as their receivers gained 283 yards after the reception, more than any other team in the last six seasons.
For the Redskins, it was a similar story to that of last week as they lost to the Eagles, putting up their first points in the game after they were down by 31. In short? They can’t score when it’s not garbage time, and for now, they can’t stop anyone as well. They didn’t learn from the 49ers and were afraid to send added pressure on Rodgers, who saw blitzes coming on only 7 of his 34 dropbacks. He was 23-of-25 for 259 yards and two touchdowns against four or less coming at him, which helped the Packers jump to a 24-0 lead at half time.
We were able to catch the ball well, had yards after the catch and we were able to run the ball better than we have in a long time. I don’t think this was my best game. I’m very happy with the accuracy and the way things went in the passing game, but we definitely have things to work on.
The Redskins are in trouble, but they’re not the only team in their division with two losses, and RG3 should look better pretty soon, but he does need his defense to stop being the easiest to score on in the NFL. For the Packers, this is their first win of the season a week too late, but they can’t hang back and linger too much about missed opportunities. With the best quarterback in the NFL, it’s about fixing the problems around him, even if a game like this doesn’t make it seem like there’s too much to be worried about.